Streaming and download piracy website traffic has dramatically surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to London-based piracy analysts Muso, analyzing the last 7 days of March 2020 compared to the last 7 days of February, visits to streaming and download piracy websites rose by 41.4% in the United States, 42.5% in the United Kingdom, 66% in Italy, 50.4% in Spain, and 35.5% in Germany. Viewers stuck at home may feel like they’re winning, or that they’re only sticking it to corporate America by stealing content, but small and independent creators, who rely on Video-on-Demand (VOD) sales to make back production costs, are the biggest losers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is one way to combat online piracy, but the Act is toothless for anyone without a copyright department — which includes every single independent producer.
Find out what is a copyright infringement is and how can you avoid it.
GUEST PANELISTS:
DAVID LIN l Attorney, LEWIS & LIN LLC
David Lin is an attorney whose practice focuses on Internet and Intellectual Property law. He represents clients in claims arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the Communications Decency Act, the Lanham (U.S. Trademark) Act, as well as disputes concerning computer security and domain names. A substantial part of his practice includes enforcing copyrights and trademarks, and negotiating licensing agreements. His clients include photographers, filmmakers, authors, fashion designers, and other content creators.
David graduated magna cum laude from the George Washington University Law School, where he was Managing Editor of The George Washington Law Review, member of the Moot Court Board, and member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He then worked as an associate in the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
David has extensive experience in commercial and intellectual property litigation, including appearing before federal and state courts and representing clients in arbitrations and mediations.
UY PIGDEN l Writer. Director. Editor. Producer.
Guy recently completed his second feature film 'Older' distributed by Indie Rights it is currently available through Amazon, Tubi and Google Play. His first feature film 'I Survived A Zombie Holocaust' (funded by the NZFC through the Escalator initiative), which he wrote and directed, enjoyed a successful international festival run premiering at London’s Frightfest. It won the Independent Spirit Award at Sydney's Night of Horror International Film Festival. It was also nominated for best screenplay at the 2015 New Zealand Writers Guild awards. In 2016 his independently produced short film 'No Caller I.D.', won best short film at Sydney's Night Of Horror international film festival. As a digital content provider, he has been creating web series, sketches and short films for over fifteen years through his Pigville Productions YouTube channel which has over 10 million views and 20,000 subscribers.
His production company most recently produced, wrote, and directed 'Harrow', a 5 part Web series for NZME's Watchme online video platform and 'Immi The Vegan', a 7 part Web series released in June 2020. He is currently in post-production on ‘Glimpses’ a feature Documentary exploring the effects of M.S.A(Multiple System Atrophy) and 'Stay At Home' a short horror film created during New Zealands level 4 lockdown.
EVAN BASS (ZEISEL) l Actor. Writer. Producer. Filmmaker.
Evan is an actor, writer, and producer, whose production company, Electronic Bass Entertainment, has produced projects from sketches and web series to TV pilots and feature films. He has a deep knowledge of film contracts and agreements, pre-production, line producing, as well as all aspects of post-production, and has been a SAG-AFTRA member focused on helping the union make the producing process as simple and positive an experience as possible. Evan is a member of SAG-AFTRA’s National Low-Budget Committee, National Next Gen Performers Committee, New York Local Board, and the New York Next Gen Performers Committee. His production website has a page specifically for assisting producers (electronicbass.com/for-producers/), and highlights a number of his past and current projects. His award-winning short film, “How You Are to Me”, focusing on dementia and care-giving, is currently being broadly released. Recently he can be seen as Chris on Season 6 of “Power”, and briefly in episode 2 of “The Loudest Voice”. His acting website is EvanBass.com.
Streaming and download piracy website traffic has dramatically surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to London-based piracy analysts Muso, analyzing the last 7 days of March 2020 compared to the last 7 days of February, visits to streaming and download piracy websites rose by 41.4% in the United States, 42.5% in the United Kingdom, 66% in Italy, 50.4% in Spain, and 35.5% in Germany. Viewers stuck at home may feel like they’re winning, or that they’re only sticking it to corporate America by stealing content, but small and independent creators, who rely on Video-on-Demand (VOD) sales to make back production costs, are the biggest losers. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is one way to combat online piracy, but the Act is toothless for anyone without a copyright department — which includes every single independent producer.
Find out what is a copyright infringement is and how can you avoid it.
GUEST PANELISTS:
DAVID LIN l Attorney, LEWIS & LIN LLC
David Lin is an attorney whose practice focuses on Internet and Intellectual Property law. He represents clients in claims arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and the Communications Decency Act, the Lanham (U.S. Trademark) Act, as well as disputes concerning computer security and domain names. A substantial part of his practice includes enforcing copyrights and trademarks, and negotiating licensing agreements. His clients include photographers, filmmakers, authors, fashion designers, and other content creators.
David graduated magna cum laude from the George Washington University Law School, where he was Managing Editor of The George Washington Law Review, member of the Moot Court Board, and member of the Order of the Coif. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Hon. Paul J. Kelly, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He then worked as an associate in the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP.
David has extensive experience in commercial and intellectual property litigation, including appearing before federal and state courts and representing clients in arbitrations and mediations.
UY PIGDEN l Writer. Director. Editor. Producer.
Guy recently completed his second feature film 'Older' distributed by Indie Rights it is currently available through Amazon, Tubi and Google Play. His first feature film 'I Survived A Zombie Holocaust' (funded by the NZFC through the Escalator initiative), which he wrote and directed, enjoyed a successful international festival run premiering at London’s Frightfest. It won the Independent Spirit Award at Sydney's Night of Horror International Film Festival. It was also nominated for best screenplay at the 2015 New Zealand Writers Guild awards. In 2016 his independently produced short film 'No Caller I.D.', won best short film at Sydney's Night Of Horror international film festival. As a digital content provider, he has been creating web series, sketches and short films for over fifteen years through his Pigville Productions YouTube channel which has over 10 million views and 20,000 subscribers.
His production company most recently produced, wrote, and directed 'Harrow', a 5 part Web series for NZME's Watchme online video platform and 'Immi The Vegan', a 7 part Web series released in June 2020. He is currently in post-production on ‘Glimpses’ a feature Documentary exploring the effects of M.S.A(Multiple System Atrophy) and 'Stay At Home' a short horror film created during New Zealands level 4 lockdown.
EVAN BASS (ZEISEL) l Actor. Writer. Producer. Filmmaker.
Evan is an actor, writer, and producer, whose production company, Electronic Bass Entertainment, has produced projects from sketches and web series to TV pilots and feature films. He has a deep knowledge of film contracts and agreements, pre-production, line producing, as well as all aspects of post-production, and has been a SAG-AFTRA member focused on helping the union make the producing process as simple and positive an experience as possible. Evan is a member of SAG-AFTRA’s National Low-Budget Committee, National Next Gen Performers Committee, New York Local Board, and the New York Next Gen Performers Committee. His production website has a page specifically for assisting producers (electronicbass.com/for-producers/), and highlights a number of his past and current projects. His award-winning short film, “How You Are to Me”, focusing on dementia and care-giving, is currently being broadly released. Recently he can be seen as Chris on Season 6 of “Power”, and briefly in episode 2 of “The Loudest Voice”. His acting website is EvanBass.com.